1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a material handling system and, more particularly, to a material handling system operable for aligning a workpiece comprising panels for forming an air bag in a plurality of different workstations for performing different operations on the workpiece.
2. Related Prior Art
With the increasing use of air bags as an additional restraint system in automobiles, there is a corresponding need for manufacturing methods and apparatus which facilitate the construction of the air bags and thereby also reduce the time and cost of constructing the air bags. Conventional air bags are typically constructed from various panels which are combined into a single assembly forming the air bag.
In a known process for constructing air bags, a reinforcing panel, such as is used to reinforce the area of a hole for the air bag, is clamped in association with a main panel and the reinforcing and main panels are attached to each other, such as by a sewing operation, to form a panel structure. The panel structure is then unclamped for manual placement in a punch press where a hole is punched through the reinforcing and main panels. The prior art operation is labor intensive in that it requires manual placement of the workpiece formed by the panels in each of the workstations. Further, this operation is time consuming in that the panels have to be manually aligned in a predetermined orientation relative to the workstations before each of the different operations can be performed.
Accordingly, there is a need for a material handling system to facilitate handling workpieces, such as air bag panels, as the workpieces undergo various operations in different workstations. Specifically, there is a need for a material handling system whereby a workpiece may be easily transported between a plurality of workstations and wherein the workpiece is easily aligned within each workstation prior to the performance of a predetermined operation at that workstation.